Water tanker allegations still persist
Mbombela opposition councillors said the water situation has become politicised and the water being delivered in rural and outlying areas has become a permanent solution to the water issues, instead of just temporary as it is a "lucrative business".
With the ongoing violent protests against Silulumanzi and its drivers, it has been alleged that the issue at hand is that service providers, helping Silulumanzi deliver water through tankers, are charging people in various areas for the water instead of it being free.
Silulumanzi said all water tankers controlled by Silulumanzi deliver free basic water at no cost and should evidence be provided “of any deviation by Silulumanzi-controlled water tankers, the company would invoke labour legislation and applicable company policies and procedures to resolve the deviation”.
Silulumanzi spokesperson, Richmond Jele, said its employees and the facilities Silulumanzi manages on behalf of the City of Mbombela Local Municipality, “have lately been inundated with protests that start off as the demand or grievance for water supply and then later transpire to be motivated by the demand for employment.
“We have had a couple of incidents in Matsulu, KaNyamazane and Pienaar areas where so-called community protests for water supply eventually de-escalated into demands for employment or contracts to supply services to Silulumanzi for payment,” said Jele.
“When a vacancy for a position in Silulumanzi is advertised, thousands of applications and CVs are received and reviewed. Silulumanzi is generally viewed as the employer of choice locally, second only to the civil service.”
He said the protests have “seriously disrupted” the schedule to the water supply and distribution timetable that was further compounded by Eskom load-shedding and regular load reduction, which left some communities desperate due to lack of water supply.
“Our staff have experienced threats to their safety at work due to mob intimidation, verbal abuse, physical violent assaults leading to injury requiring medical care, and some of our facilities and amenities have been damaged and need immediate repairs to preserve a safe working environment for employees and ensure quality water supply is maintained,” said Jele.
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Jele said regarding the allegations of service providers charging communities for water, evidence would need to be provided and the matter would then be thoroughly investigated.
“From time to time Silulumanzi engages the services of independent water tanker suppliers, vetted through our procurement procedures, to deliver emergency water supply in times of crises caused by major water pump-line bursts, Eskom load-shedding and the regular load reduction, as well as the simple reality that water demand in the areas of Nsikazi far outstrip the capacity of the water purification and distribution facilities to supply.”
“The City of Mbombela does not dictate to Silulumanzi as to which service providers to engage, because we do have robust procurement procedures in place that are not only strictly compliant to prevailing public finance legislation, but are also reviewed from time to time to respond to prevailing conditions on the ground to ensure fairness, transparency and ethical principles and practices.”
Jele said service providers contracted by Silulumanzi vary from time to time depending on the water supply situation and emergencies experienced, as well as other unforeseen disruptions of the water abstraction and purification process due to the recent heavy storms from Eloise.
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He said rates paid to private water tanker suppliers are based on deliveries made and subject to competitive bidding and customer-client confidentiality.
“Water supply from all Silulumanzi water tankers and contracted service providers is free basic water that should not be charged to the recipients.
“Silulumanzi will therefore not hesitate to take action against any of its direct employees and service providers for violating the rules, when and if incontrovertible evidence is made available of any wrongdoing.”
Mbombela DA councillor, Sanley van der Merwe, said the issue with the private service providers was that their tankers were not marked and that sometimes the vehicles did not have licence plates.
Vehicles should be clearly marked “If Silulumanzi has been contracted to manage areas, it is its responsibility to ensure that if it uses private contractors, these private services have their vehicles clearly marked with company details and a contact number, with clear signs on the car that water is free.
“Water tankers are a very lucrative business and what was supposed to be a temporary solution has now become a more permanent solution,” she said.
“The recent unrest related to water issues is something that could have been expected. The City has fallen behind on its water projects and the implementation of the projects as set out in the beginning of the term.
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“We are keeping an eye on the process. We need to understand the arrangement between Silulumanzi and Mbombela and who is responsible for these private water tankers.
“If they had gone through a proper and vigorous process on appointment with Silulumanzi, then Silulumanzi needs to take responsibility and ensure they are properly marked and monitored.”
Mbombela EFF councillor, Lucky Maseko, said the water tankers had become a permanent solution where it should just be temporary.
“There are people benefiting from the water tankers and so they have become the solution and should not be. Any water projects that have been started will not get off the ground because the water tanker business is too lucrative,” he said.
